Life in Antarctica’s ice mirrors human disease

Mapping tens of thousands of genes from a group of Antarctic fishes called notothenioids, a team of researchers has discovered that the massive amount of genetic change required for life in the Antarctic occurred long before the Antarctic cooled. These genetic changes not only have major implications for understanding the evolution of Antarctica’s unusual animals, but also highlight that some key adaptations used by fishes mirror the genetics of human bone diseases such as osteoporosis.